Hey guys, this is my first HP fanfic, and I based the two main characters off of me and my friend. The names are a bit of an inside joke, but I think they go well with the personalities. Also, later in the story it will be GeorgeXOCXFred, and I'll probably ask for any suggestions to add to the story as I write. So without further ado, heres the first chapter. Hope you like it!
An owl swooped from above the clouds, a letter clutched in his talons. It was headed for a tent, in a field, just on the edge of Oxford. Inside the tent, circus performers were getting ready for their show that night. Practicing, setting up and some just laying in wait. The owl flew in through the opening of the tent and perched on top of the high wire, dropping the letter to the net, before leaving as swiftly as he came.
The ringmaster walked over and picked it up from the dirt floor. The envelope was sealed with an H in red wax. On the front side...
"Mandarin!" One of the girls on the trapeze looked over. He motioned for her to come over. She jumped down with grace and bounced from the net, landing easily on the ground.
"Yeah?" She smiled. He handed her the envelope. "For me?" Looking at the front it read,
Ms. Mandarin Leonte
Traveling Circus Group
England, UK
She turned it over slowly and opened the letter.
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
"This must be a joke." She handed it back to him. Then the strong man, Joseph, walked over to her.
"I assure you, its not."
"Joseph...what do you know about this?" She asked.
"I went to the school some number of years ago. Hogwarts is truly prestigious. I believe Professor Dumbledore is the headmaster now."
"Are you trying to tell me, I'm a witch?"
"Yes. I am." She looked at him blankly, before a huge grin broke over her face.
"Cool! When do I go?" He just laughed at the 10 year old.
Meanwhile, away in Germany, a family was also receiving a letter. However, they weren't as accepting of the news. Pandora, the recipient in question, was currently being drilled by her parents.
"Where did you even learn magic?" Her mother cried.
"Its all those books she reads." The father answered, resting his hand against the wall.
"What else am I supposed to do for fun? You don't let me outside!" Pandora all but yelled.
"You are not allowed to go, that is final." Her father said.
"This is completely unfair!" The 11 year old yelled, stomping up to her room. Once there, she looked out her open window, "I'll find a way to get there, even if they wont let me." And she set about packing her important belongings.
Mandarins long ginger hair blew behind her as she ran trying to find Platform 9 ¾. She crossed her arms in frustration.
"Stupid...stupid...stupid. Where is this platform?" Joseph stopped behind her.
"Keep walking, I know where it is." She shouldered her bag once more and picked up her owl cage.
"But the train leaves at exactly 11! We have ten minutes, what if we don't make it."
"We'll be fine." They kept walking and suddenly a red haired family came into view. The oldest, it looked like, took a run at the wall, between two platforms.
"What!" She exclaimed, "Is! He! Doing!" Then, he disappeared into the wall. "No way." She grinned. They walked towards the family. The daughter seemed to have heard us and tugged her mothers shawl. The woman turned around. Mandarins ferret cooed. "Is this where you get onto the platform?" Mandarin asked with a smile.
The woman smiled as well. "Yes. I'm Molly Weasley. Is this your first year?"
"Yes, it is. I didn't even know magic existed till a week ago."
"Muggle-born?" She looked up at Joseph.
"No, we're not sure. She doesn't know her parents. We're from a traveling circus." The twins standing behind the lady, finally walked towards her and looked at her.
"So she a circus freak." One of them said.
"Fred! Don't be mean!" She very well shrieked.
"He's not Fred, I am!"
"Honestly woman, you call yourself our mother." She just gave them a look.
"Just go through to the platform both of you." they saluted her, and took off into the wall. "Now, for you, just run at the wall between the platforms." Mandarin took a deep breath. She took off into the platform, wincing before she disappeared through to the other side. She looked over at the looming train, and stepped forward. The station was bustling with activity. Parents saying goodbye, and kids trying to find their friends.
The first person she noticed was a girl, with waist length blond hair, handing her luggage to the man. The she felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Joseph.
"So this is where we part then?" She asked. He knelt to her eye level.
"Yes. It is." He hugged her tightly. "Be safe." He whispered.
"I will. I'll miss you." She tried to hold back tears.
"When you get back I'll be waiting here for you. I promise." They pulled away and she nodded.
"Now go on before you miss your train." Laughing, she took off running and disappeared into the train after handing the man her ferret to place in the storage compartment. Within a few moments, she was hanging out the window, waving to him goodbye. The train whistled and they were on their way.
Mandarin walked along the train hallways, dodging people who were running about. She finally saw a car that only had one person in it, the girl she saw from before. She opened the door.
"Um, excuse me, may I sit in here? Everywhere else is full." the girl looked up at her from the book she was reading with the strangest coloured eyes. They were red, with blue linings around the pupils, and her long blond hair, tapered off from a line of bangs that sat evenly across her forehead.
"Sure." She gestured to the seat across from her. Mandarin entered the car, and placed her bag on the seat. "Flyby circus?" She asked. She was staring at her bag.
"Its the circus I live with. I was raised by them."
"Oh. Where is your accent from?" She looked surprised.
"No one has ever noticed my accent, its barely there."
"Oh."
"Its from Romania. I lived there until I was about two years old." She paused. "I'm Mandarin Leonte. Whats your name?"
"Its Pandora."
"Pandora...?"
"Pandora Adler."
"Germany?" Pandora nodded. "Wow.. and your coming all the way out here for school? Your parents must surely be worried."
"They don't know?"
"How...?"
"I ran away to come here. They refused to let me out of the house. They treat me like I'm a fragile doll."
"Okay, now you have to explain. Does this have something to do with your eye colour?" She nodded.
"When I was born, I didn't cry." She paused, closing her book entirely and gazing out the window. "There was something wrong and I was born asleep, so I couldn't take my first breath. They put me on a ventilator, and tried as hard as they could to keep me alive for my parents. The medicine they gave me to expand my lungs, had a reaction with the nerves in my lungs and affected other things."
"Like your eyes?"
"Yeah. Pretty much." Mandarin opened her mouth to say something, but they're door opened. Fred and George Weasley stood in the doorframe.
"Yes?" She asked.
"Hey circus freak, can we sit in your car?"
"Why? Don't you have your own friends? You aren't first years."
"Okay, we were going to be nice and apologize..."
"Apologize? Might have wanted to start by not calling me circus freak." She got up, shut the door and locked it. They shrugged to each other outside the car and walked back from where they came.
"Who was that?"
"Stupid boys. Fred and George." She gave a look to the door and went back to her book. "So, what are you reading?"
"A book." She said, irritation crawling into her voice.
"What kind of book?"
"A detective novel."
"Something I might like?"
"Do you like to read?"
"Not really. I've never had time for it."
"Then no." Mandarin made a slight pout with her lips then looked out the window. Sighing, she looked back over at Pandora. Obviously she wasn't one to want to talk. So Mandarin began rummaging through her duffel bag. She had gone earlier that week to London, and to Diagon Alley, with Joseph, where he led her into Gringotts and gave her some of his small fourtune. Inside the duffel bag she had everything she needed because a trunk was too hard to carry on the train from Oxford to London.
Reaching to the bottom of her bag, she pulled out one of the chocolate bars her circus troop graced her with before she left.
"Chocolate?" She offered.
"Whats chocolate?" Pandora said, putting the book down.
"Really? You've never had chocolate?" She shook her head. Mandarin broke off a piece for her and put it in her awaiting hand. She popped it in her mouth, and let a part of it melt on her tongue. She made a face and spit it back into her hand.
"Yuk!" She took a wet-nap from her pocket and cleaned off her hand.
"Ew." Mandarin said. "You didn't like it?"
"Too sweet." She said, shaking her head.
"What did you eat at home?"
"Organic food. Lots of veggies. Mum and dad never let me eat meat. They said it turns people into barbarians."
"Well that's just ridiculous. Everyone knows that you need to eat meat for iron, to keep you strong and healthy."
"ANYTHING FROM THE TROLLEY?" They heard from outside. Mandarin opened the door.
"Anything from the trolley dears?" The nice looking elderly lady asked.
"None for me thank you." Pandora said.
"Whats this?" Mandarin fawned over all the candy and ended up buying two licorice wands and a package of Bertie Botts every flavour beans. "These are delicious!" She exclaimed through her chewing. They shared a bit more about themselves, such as Pandora's fascination for books or Mandarins homeschooling and circus act. When the sky was drawing darker, a prefect, told them to get their cloaks on.
It was dark out by the time they stepped out of the train. Everyone felt so much taller than her and Pandora, who was still carrying her book from before.
"First years follow me!" A large man bellowed across the train stop.
"He's a half giant." Pandora said. "The game keeper of Hogwarts."
"Let me guess, it was in a book." Mandarin rolled her eyes. Pandora gave her an exasperated look. The game keeper led them to a small dock where a number of boats were. They paired off into the boats, and they started moving all on their own. "Oh wow." The light of the lantern was the only thing shining in the darkness.
They turned a corner, and suddenly a large castle was looming over them. Their jaws dropped in awe as they moved closer and it became even bigger. The awe didn't last long, as the stopped in a boat house and filed out up the steps towards the castle. The lake stretched around the castle and to the great hills away. They continued walking, ever after reaching a large set of doors.
"All right first years, continue up the stairs in the castle until you reach the Professor. Good luck." And then he left. They did as they were told and walked up as a large group, up the stairs and towards an older lady, wearing green robes and a pointed hat.
"Welcome to Hogwarts. Now, in a few moments you will pass through these doors and join your classmates, but before you can take your seats, you must be sorted into your houses. They are Griffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Now while you're here, you house will be like your family. Your triumphs will earn you points. Any rule breaking and you will lose points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points will be awarded the House Cup. We will begin momentarily."
And she left for a moment.
"Hi, I'm Adele." A pale looking girl said to Mandarins right. She put her hand out for a handshake.
"I'm Mandarin." They smiled toothily at each other before the Professor came back.
"We're ready for you now. Follow me." Mandarin and Pandora were the first ones after her. The large doors opened into a great dining hall. All eyes were on them as they marched along the length of the hall and towards the front, where a stool sat in front of a long table of adults. Mandarin looked around at the tables, picking out Fred and George from the mass of people at their table. They lined up at the front and the lady rolled out her large piece of parchment.
"All right now when I called your name please step forward to be sorted. Andrew Macmillon."
A scared looking boy stepped forward and hesitantly sat in the chair. The hat touched his head before it shouted, "Hufflepuff!"
"The hat talks." Pandora muttered, stupified.
"And here I thought you knew everything." Mandarin laughed.
"Mandarin Leonte." Mandarin looked up and slowly made her way to the chair. She glanced over at Fred and George who looked on with interest. She sat gracefully on the chair before the hat was placed on her head. The hat felt light, surprisingly. She blinked slowly, as is whispered to itself. Her eyes darted across the hall and she sorted out which table was which. Since she knew Fred and George were in Griffindor, they're table was left to her but toward the middle of the room. Hufflepuff was on the far end since the previous boy had just sat down. She could see some green on the students at the opposite table in the hall and guessed they were Slytherins.
"You're clever girl. And from what I see here, you'd better be in... Ravenclaw!" The student at the corresponding students cheered and she bounced off the seat and towards their table.
"Mandarin, is it?" An older boy asked. She nodded gleefully. "I'm Jeremiah."
"Its good to meet you."
"Pandora Adler." She heard from the front of the hall. She watched as her friend(if she could call her that) walked up and sat with a bored expression on her face. After careful consideration, the hat yelled out, "Slytherin!" Mandarin was disappointed. She hoped that her new found friend would have been with her. A few more people were sorted, and Adele had joined their house along with many more eager first-years.
She was able to ask for a few peoples names before Professor Dumbledore stood up to say a few words.
"First let me remind you, that the Forbidden Forest is off limits to everyone. With that out of the way, let the feast begin." With a wave of his hand, piles and piles of food appeared, leaving nothing to the imagination. Mandarin smiled, and began taking food onto her plate. Her older companion Jeremiah shared crazy stories of Hogwarts and classes. After dinner was finished and the dessert came and was eaten, the prefect called for them to follow him. They exited the great hall and turned towards a large room. Inside were hundreds of staircases, thousands of moving pictures. A few of them welcomed the first years as they walked past, others continued with their merriment.
"Why does Hogwarts have so many stairs?" Adele grumbled to my left.
"Its not bothering me." Mandarin grinned at her.
"Yeah well whatever." They stopped in a high tower, in front of a door with an eagle door knocker. It spoke directly to the Prefect.
"Where do vanished objects go?"
"Into non-being, which is to say, everything." He replied. The eagle nodded and the door swung open. "Follow me everyone." They all piled into the common room. "Okay first years, girls your dormitory is upstairs on the left and boys, to the right. All your items have been brought up. Your schedules will be on your beds." And with that, he left them to go find their way up their dormitories. They filed up the stairs and to the first landing where their bedroom was. Mandarin's belongings had been placed at the far end of the room, and so she dubbed the bed as her own. She sat down and watched as everyone pulled out their pajama's and begun getting ready to sleep.
She got her pajamas out of her bag and waited for her classmates to be done in the bathroom. She changed and got under her covers. She sat awake for part of the night, not because she was homesick, she could never be homesick, but because she knew her friends were and she was worried. Finally she fell asleep, exhausted from the excitement of the day, and the excitement for tomorrow.
So, what did you guys think?
Let me know, and if you have any suggestions for the next chapter, do not hesitate to leave it!